FND3005 Reading Contemporary Society Assignment Sample

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Introduction

The effects of social media on the well-being of Children as now become a worrying consideration of modern society, especially In the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and Northern Ireland, where social media such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat have impacted hugely on children. For those seeking assignment help cheap, understanding these effects is crucial. As children spend more time using social media, they are aware of the benefits and detrimental outcomes, which include connection, identity expression, and collective interests, as well as negative impacts like bullying, mental health disorders, and adverse body image. This fact has been voluminously discussed in the media, policy discussions, and in scholarly literature. In addition, it also scrutinises the impact of these representations on the perception of the society and policy-making process. Topics remain focused on concerns regarding media, the actions of social networks, and public health in the context of technologies.

Documentary Analysis

Article 1

Criddle, C. (2021). Social Media Damages teenagers’ Mental Health. BBC News. [online] 27 Jan. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55826238.

Bibliographic Information:

Criddle, C. (2021). Social Media Damages Teenagers’ Mental Health. BBC News, 27 January.

Ownership:

BBC News is a publicly funded news organization under the BBC Charter. It operates with a mandate to provide impartial, high-quality journalism.

Author's Background:

Chris Criddle is a technology journalist specializing in reporting tech-related topics, especially their impact on society.

Target Audience:

The article is general in nature and, within its intended readership, can be helpful for parents, teachers, policymakers and teenagers (Criddle, 2021). Its simplicity of tone makes it more comprehensible to readers who may not otherwise understand terms used in formal research.

FND3005 Reading Contemporary Society Assignment Sample

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Representation of the Topic:

He acknowledges that several studies have shown that the use of social media applications such as Instagram and Snapchat, among others, poses a significant threat to the psychological well-being of teenagers. Teenagers are depicted as susceptible beings easily influenced by perceived curated content and interactions with other users, most often to unpleasant effects (Criddle, 2021).

Bias and Presentation:

The article mainly speaks about how social media is dangerous, which can be seen from the following: The article is focused on the risks of using social media, meaning that there might be a bias towards sensationalism to grab the audience’s attention. Despite citing empirical evidence, most states represent the potential positive impact of social media by painting a one-sided picture (Das et al., 2021).

Suitability for Academic Study:

The article refers to credible sources, which makes it appropriate for academic analysis. Nevertheless, highlighting various risks but having no reference to possible ways to lessen its impact, it may be necessary to enrich the use of this source with other explanations (Das et al., 2021).

Article 2

Haroon Siddique (2019). Impact of social media on children faces fresh scrutiny.

Bibliographic Information:

Siddique, H. (2019). Impact of Social Media on Children Faces Fresh Scrutiny. The Guardian, 15 January.

Ownership:

The Guardian is owned by the Scott Trust, ensuring editorial independence. It is known for its progressive perspectives and investigative journalism.

Author's Background:

Haroon Siddique is a veteran print, radio and television journalist emphasising social justice issues and reporting that he has reported on mental health, education and public health.

Target Audience:

This article interests socially aware readers and would interest parents, educators, and policymakers. It interests people who follow debates on mental health in the public sphere and those who use digital technology.

Representation of the Topic:

Siddique provides an account of the negative impact of social media on the users’ mental health and at the same time, advocates for needless to do more research (Siddique, 2019). As per the article, the subject has been under investigation by governments, and demands have been made to provide young users with safety shields.

Bias and Presentation:

The article seems less biased than the BBC piece. However, it fills gaps in knowledge and shares the fact that the issue is multifaceted (Rikala et al., 2024). Nevertheless, their progressive character may affect the presentation of solutions, considering the need for tighter control over social media applications.

Suitability for Academic Study:

Government reports and opinions of specialists are also incorporated, which makes the article ideal for academic purposes. Its main strength lies in the fact that it offers both the risks associated with the problem and possible resolution (Rikala et al., 2024).

Article 3

NIHR (2023). The impact of social media use on young people’s mental health. [online] NIHR School for Public Health Research.

Bibliographic Information:

NIHR (2023). The Impact of Social Media Use on Young People’s Mental Health. NIHR School for Public Health Research.

Ownership:

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is a government-funded organization that supports public health research.

Author's Background:

This is a helpful article because it is written by NIHR researchers and grounded on public health observations. Hence, readers get an objective point of view and lots of valuable data.

Target Audience:

The target audiences include physicians, faculty, students, and policymakers. The article also provides a material source of information for educators and parents who want to see the best evidence-based knowledge (Johnson, 2023).

Representation of the Topic:

As it was seen, this media has both positive and negative consequences, meaning the article does not sway to extremes. It draws people’s attention to the fact that social media presents various risks to mental health, such as cyborg bullying and comparison traps, but where people with similar disorders can support one another (Johnson, 2023).

Bias and Presentation:

Sensationalism is dismissed, and the article presents information from worldwide public health research (Rodrigo-Ginés et al., 2023). It has less of a chance to be biased because it is not affiliated with any institution, organization or country, and it uses statistics.

Suitability for Academic Study:

Thus, the article is somewhat helpful for academic purposes because of its strong traceable research foundation and relatively impartial evaluation of the issue. This gives a balanced view that can supplement the other two articles (Ecker et al., 2022).

Discussion

Media Ownership and Influence

The ownership of media in social media ownership exercises significant influence over how the effects of social media on childhood mental health are presented. The public funding mechanism for BBC News demands a corresponding level of politically correct journalism (Cushion, 2021). This is the key reason that allows the article by Criddle to dwell on the objective evidence. However, the approach taken by the author tends more towards the pessimistic scenario, presumably of the effect caused by such tendencies on society. Guardian, however, founded by the Scott Trust, focuses on investigation and socially sensitive journalism (Neff and Pickard, 2023). Further, Siddique’s article seems to be more moderate, aligning with The Guardian’s liberal-leftist agenda on such topics as child safeguarding or controlling tech behemoths. The copyrighted article from Central’s Occupation Journal is published based on NIHR funding, a public healthcare research funding body (Dragomir, 2017). The article is research-oriented, with data and evidence; no commercial interests drive the study’s conclusions.

Thus, ownership plays a significant role in shaping editorial attitudes and people’s expectations regarding the content delivered. While outlets that private companies fund may escalate risks to gain traffic, organizations funded by public monies intervene to educate (Diehlmann et al., 2021). This article selection illustrates how the funding and ownership structure influences the content and the presentation of social media and mental health issues by bringing distinct aspects of the discussion to the foreground to serve the organizational necessities of the targeted readers (Haghani et al., 2023).

Representation of Social Media and Mental Health

Concerning the three articles analysed, the representation of the effects of social media on mental health varies (Naslund et al., 2020). In his article, Criddle focuses on teenagers as the most endangered population and describes the adverse primary impacts of social networks, like anxiety, depression, and poor body image. This is in line with other discourses which nurture the construction of children as mere victims of technology who need to be protected by different people (Lievens et al., 2019). In this volume, Siddique offers a less sensationalised view, documenting potential risks but also missing research and the concept of a balanced, responsible regulation. Like most articles that utilize empirical evidence, the NIHR’s article covers both the negative aspects of social media, such as cyberbullying activity and the comparison culture of social media and the positive aspects, such as peer support and community building.

Such differences in representations can be attributed to other tendencies that are observed in media coverage (Maximova and Lukyanova, 2020). Such articles as Criddle’s always amplify risks to gain readership attention and may further fuel society’s perception of social networking sites as dangerous. However, NIHR’s positive portrayal is a fairer representation of social media, arguing that social media has its merits rather than being all bad or all good (Rothenberger and Schmitt, 2024). These representations define how society perceives social media platforms and whether they harm or benefit society.

Audience Influence and Shaping Perceptions

It emerges that while media influences the perceptions of people regarding various issues, in audience consideration influences media. “BBC News” and “The Guardian” articles fit the current concerns of parents, educators, and policymakers about the adverse effects of social media (Antoniou, 2024). This mutual interconnectedness is based on the fact that the press meets the public’s concerns as it merely spreads the existing societal fears. For instance, while making his argument, Criddle most probably is targeting the aspects that would negatively affect the human body therefore, emphasizing negative impacts would most probably make the scar alleges or parents who are concerned about their children's mental health have their concerns validated (Antoniou, 2024).

On the other hand, the audiences can force the media to change its direction to a more balanced one (Mont’Alverne et al., 2023). A flood of pertinent examples aligns with NIHR’s concern for presenting methodical and balanced analysis since its intended readership of healthcare professionals, and researchers expects factual, bias-free information. This feature demonstrates how and when the audience's characteristics determine the organization of media messages, whether in support of hysterical discourse or support of rational debates.

Application of Media Theory

Major theories in media assist in explaining how media was influential in shaping people’s perceptions of social media and mental health (Zhang and Firdaus, 2024). Among these theories, it is pertinent to mention agenda-setting theory, which allows us to understand to what extent media guides public concern and discussion. For instance, Criddle argues that using social media is risky, and because of that, he brings the public's attention to these risks and paints them as problems that need immediate solutions. This complements the theory that postmodernism’s role is not to inform people what to think but what to think about (Zhang and Firdaus, 2024).

Cultivation Theory also holds, especially as it tries to explain the effects of repeated stories in the media (Khalaf, 2023). Such articles as Criddle and Siddique's pieces, which consistently focus on the negative aspects of using social media, can give the readers a bias that most of what is on social media is damaging regardless of other positives that may be in the social media (Competiello et al. 2023). With time, this explanation solidifies into a cultural rationale for parenting, teaching or policy-making about social media use and mental health treatment.

Conclusion

This paper examines media coverage of the intended and unintended effects of social media on children and their mental health. It established the media as a key player in sharing information, forming opinions, and creating awareness on societal issues. The research paper discusses the role of the media in covering the various intended and unintended effects that social media has on children and their mental health. It shows the role of the media in communicating important messages, creating public opinion, and raising awareness on matters of societal concern. It shows sources like “BBC News”, “The Guardian,” and “NIHR” that make visible some differences through which the level of priority attached to the effects, benefits, and possible solutions diverges, as a result of ownership, editorial policy, and intended audience. Publicly funded outlets like the “BBC” offer more evidence-based, still cautious reportage while an independent “The Guardian” provides a balanced view from both ends. On the other hand, NIHR as a research-focused entity has data-rich and research-based insights.

References

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